WO2023065146A1

WO2023065146A1 - Methods and apparatuses for enhancements of a mdt mechanism for a sdt procedure

Info

Publication number: WO2023065146A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/124962
Authority: WO
Inventors: Le Yan; Lianhai WU; Mingzeng Dai; Yibin ZHUO
Original assignee: Lenovo (Beijing) Limited
Priority date: 2021-10-20
Filing date: 2021-10-20
Publication date: 2023-04-27

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application relate to methods and apparatuses for enhancements of a minimization of drive tests (MDT) mechanism for a SDT procedure. According to an embodiment of the present application, a UE includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor; and the processor is configured: to store information related to at least one of: a SDT procedure, or a non-SDT procedure; and to transmit, via the transceiver to a network node, the information related to the at least one of: the SDT procedure, or the non-SDT procedure.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR ENHANCEMENTS OF A MDT MECHANISM FOR A SDT PROCEDURE

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present application generally relate to wireless communication technology, in particular to methods and apparatuses for enhancements of a minimization of drive tests (MDT) mechanism for a small data transmission (SDT) procedure.

BACKGROUND

A SDT procedure allows a data transmission while remaining in RRC_INACTIVE state (i.e., without transitioning to RRC_CONNECTED state) . A SDT procedure is enabled on an radio bearer basis and is initiated by a user equipment (UE) only if less than a configured amount of uplink (UL) data awaits transmission across all radio bearers for which the SDT procedure is enabled, measured reference signal received power (RSRP) in the cell is above a configured threshold, and a valid resource for SDT transmission is available.

A SDT procedure either takes place on random access channel (RACH) resources or type 1 configured grant (CG) resources. For a SDT procedure, CG resources can be configured either on initial bandwidth part (BWP) or on a dedicated BWP. CG resources (e.g. configured grant type 1 resources, or type 1 configured grant resources) are part of CG resource configuration (e.g., type 1 CG configuration) , and CG resource configuration (e.g., type 1 CG configuration) may be provided in the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message. CG physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) resources can be separately configured for a normal uplink (NUL) and a supplementary uplink (SUL) . For a SDT procedure, CG resources can be configured at the same time on NUL and SUL. A UE performs an UL carrier selection i.e., selecting between the NUL carrier and SUL carrier for a SDT procedure (i.e., if SUL is configured in the cell, an UL carrier is selected based on SDT specific RSRP threshold) . The UL carrier selection is performed before CG resources selection or RACH resources selection for the SDT procedure. A RSRP threshold for a carrier selection is specific to the SDT procedure (i.e., separately configured for the SDT procedure) .

Regarding a MDT mechanism, there are two modes for MDT measurements: Logged MDT, and Immediate MDT. Logged MDT is supported by RRC_INACTIVE state and RRC_IDLE state of a UE. Apply the Logged MDT configuration, logged measurements and reporting procedures to RRC_INACTIVE state. In particular, the procedures of a MDT mechanism are as follows. (1) For immediate MDT: a network node can collect data with or without the UE involvement in RRC_CONNECTED state. For example, the UE can report measurements to the RAN via periodical or event-triggered ways. (2) For logged MDT: the network node sends logged measurement configuration to the UE in connected mode. Then, the UE collects measurements in RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state. Upon the UE restarting the RRC connection, the UE firstly sends available indicator (s) to the network node. Then, the network node can command the UE to send the measurements.

Currently, details regarding enhancements of a MDT mechanism for a SDT procedure have not been discussed yet.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present application also provide a UE. The UE includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor; and the processor is configured: to store information related to at least one of: a small data transmission (SDT) procedure, or a non-SDT procedure; and to transmit, via the transceiver to a network node, the information related to the at least one of: the SDT procedure, or the non-SDT procedure.

Some embodiments of the present application provide a method, which may be performed by a UE. The method includes: storing information related to at least one of: a SDT procedure, or a non-SDT procedure; and transmitting, to a network node, the information related to the at least one of: the SDT procedure, or the non-SDT procedure.

Some embodiments of the present application also provide an apparatus for wireless communications. The apparatus includes: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions; a receiving circuitry; a transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement any of the above-mentioned method performed by a UE.

Some embodiments of the present application also provide a network node (e.g., a base station (BS) ) . The network node includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor; and the processor is configured: to receive, via the transceiver from a user equipment (UE) , an indicator indicating that information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” is stored in the UE; to transmit, via the transceiver to the UE, a request message for the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” ; and to receive, via the transceiver, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” from the UE.

Some embodiments of the present application provide a method, which may be performed by a network node (e.g., a BS) . The method includes: receiving, from a UE, an indicator indicating that information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” is stored in the UE; transmitting, to the UE, a request message for the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” ; and receiving, from the UE, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” .

Some embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus. The apparatus includes: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, a receiving circuitry; a transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement the abovementioned method performed by a network node (e.g., a BS) .

The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the descriptions below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the descriptions and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which advantages and features of the application can be obtained, a description of the application is rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. These drawings depict only example embodiments of the application and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method for storing/logging/recording information related to a SDT procedure according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method for receiving information related to a SDT procedure according to some embodiments of the present application; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a MDT mechanism for a SDT procedure according to some embodiments of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of the appended drawings is intended as a description of preferred embodiments of the present application and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present application may be practiced. It should be understood that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present application.

Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. To facilitate understanding, embodiments are provided under specific network architecture and new service scenarios, such as 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) LTE and LTE advanced, 3GPP 5G NR, 5G-Advanced, 6G, and so on. It is contemplated that along with developments of network architectures and new service scenarios, all embodiments in the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems; and moreover, the terminologies recited in the present application may change, which should not affect the principle of the present application.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present application.

As shown and illustrated in FIG. 1, a wireless communication system 100 includes at least one UE 101 and at least one BS 102. In particular, the wireless communication system 100 includes one UE 101 (e.g., UE 101a) and three BSs 102 (e.g., BS 102a, BS 102b, and BS 102c) for illustrative purpose. Although a specific number of UEs 101 and BSs 102 are depicted in FIG. 1, it is contemplated that any number of UEs 101 and BSs 102 may be included in the wireless communication system 100.

UE (s) 101 may include computing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , tablet computers, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet) , set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras) , vehicle on-board computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, and modems) , internet of things (IoT) devices, or the like. According to some embodiments of the present application, UE (s) 101 may include a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular telephone, a flip phone, a device having a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, or any other device that is capable of transmitting and receiving communication signals on a wireless network. In some embodiments of the present application, UE (s) 101 includes wearable devices, such as smart watches, fitness bands, optical head-mounted displays, or the like. Moreover, UE (s) 101 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal, or a device, or described using other terminology used in the art. UE (s) 101 may communicate directly with BSs 102 via uplink (UL) communication signals.

In some embodiments of the present application, each of UE (s) 101 may be deployed an IoT application, an eMBB application and/or an URLLC application. It is contemplated that the specific type of application (s) deployed in UE (s) 101 may be varied and not limited.

BS (s) 102 may be distributed over a geographic region. In certain embodiments of the present application, each of BS (s) 102 may also be referred to as an access point, an access terminal, a base, a base unit, a macro cell, a Node-B, an evolved Node B (eNB) , a gNB, a NG-RAN (Next Generation-Radio Access Network) node, a Home Node-B, a relay node, or a device, or described using other terminology used in the art. BS (s) 102 is generally a part of an radio access network that may include one or more controllers communicably coupled to one or more corresponding BS (s) 102.

The wireless communication system 100 may be compatible with any type of network that is capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with a wireless communication network, a cellular telephone network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) -based network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) -based network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) -based network, an LTE network, a 3GPP-based network, a 3GPP 5G network, a satellite communications network, a high altitude platform network, and/or other communications networks.

In some embodiments of the present application, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with the 5G of the 3GPP protocol, wherein BS (s) 102 transmit data using an OFDM modulation scheme on the downlink (DL) and UE (s) 101 transmit data on the UL using a single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) or OFDM scheme. More generally, however, the wireless communication system 100 may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocols, for example, WiMAX, among other protocols.

In some embodiments of the present application, BS (s) 102 may communicate using other communication protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocols. Further, in some embodiments of the present application, BS (s) 102 may communicate over licensed spectrums, whereas in other embodiments, BS (s) 102 may communicate over unlicensed spectrums. The present application is not intended to be limited to the implementation of any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol. In yet some embodiments of present application, BS (s) 102 may communicate with UE (s) 101 using the 3GPP 5G protocols. Each BS (s) 102 may include one or more cells. Each UE (s) 101 may perform a cell section procedure between different cell (s) of different BS (s) . Each UE (s) 101 may handover from a serving cell of a source BS to a target cell of a target BS.

In general, one requirement for a SDT procedure using CG resources or CG configuration information is that a time alignment (TA) should be valid. A TA validation mechanism for a SDT procedure is as below:

(1) A network node configures a timer, e.g., SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer. The SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer is started upon receiving the SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer configuration from a network node, or the SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer is started upon receiving the CG configuration information (e.g., type 1 CG configuration) from a network node.

(2) Even if the timer is running, path loss may change due to the UE's mobility, resulting in change of TA. A TA is considered as valid, if all of following conditions are met; and a TA is not valid, if any of following conditions is not satisfied:

a) SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer is running; and

b) Synchronization Signal (SS) RSRP of pathloss reference has not increased by more than one threshold (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdIncrease) since the last time SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer was started; and

c) The SS-RSRP of the pathloss reference has not decreased by more than one threshold (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdDecrease) since the last time SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer was started.

In some cases, a SDT procedure using CG resources or CG configuration information may also be named as “CG-SDT” or “CG-SDT procedure” or the like. A SDT procedure using RACH resources may also be named as “RA-SDT” or “RA-SDT procedure” or the like.

Specifically, at least following parameters should be included in CG configuration information:

(1) A new TA timer in RRC_INACTIVE state, e.g., SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer.

(2) RSRP change threshold (s) for a TA validation mechanism in the SDT procedure, e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdIncrease and cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdDecrease.

(3) A SS/PBCH block (SSB) RSRP threshold for beam selection (i.e., a UE selects the beam and associated CG resource for a data transmission) , e.g., a RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources.

(4) CG resources for SDT, e.g., type 1 CG resources.

For RA-SDT (e.g., 2-step RA-SDT or 4-step RA-SDT) in RRC_INACTIVE state, a network node may provide contention-based random access (CBRA) resource via system information block (SIB) , and contention-free random access (CFRA) is not supported for RA-SDT. Two types of random access (RA) procedures are supported, i.e., 4-step RA type, and 2-step RA type. 4-step RACH based SDT (e.g., 4-step RA-SDT) and/or 2-step RACH based SDT (e.g., 2-step RA-SDT) can be supported. A network node can configure 4-step RACH resources/configuration information for SDT, and/or, a network node can configure 2-step RACH resources/configuration information for SDT. RACH resources (e.g., 4-step RACH resources or 2-step RACH resources) for SDT are part of RACH configuration information for SDT, for example, besides RACH resources, a RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using RACH resources can be included in the RACH configuration information. When both 2-step RACH resources/configuration information and 4-step RACH resources/configuration information are configured to a UE, the UE can select RA type, e.g., the UE can decide whether to perform 4-step RA-SDT using 4-step RACH resources/configuration information or to perform 2-step RA-SDT using 2-step RACH resources/configuration information.

Once initiated, a SDT procedure lasts as long as a UE is not explicitly directed to RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state (via the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message) or to RRC_CONNECTED state (via the RRCResume message) . Generally, a SDT procedure includes two phases, i.e., an initial data transmission phase, and a subsequent data transmission phase.

(1) An UL transmission in the initial data transmission phase includes at least RRC message and CG resources are used during this phase.

(2) During a subsequent data transmission, a dynamic grant addressed to a UE’s C-RNTI is used in addition to CG resources. During the subsequent new CG transmission phase (i.e., after the UE has received response from a network node) , for the purpose of CG resource selection, the UE re-evaluates the SSB for subsequent CG transmission. When at least one of following conditions is met, the UE can initiate a legacy RACH procedure (e.g., trigger due to no UL resources) , or initiate an RA-SDT procedure (i.e., switch from CG-SDT to RA-SDT) if the RA-SDT resources can be used for a subsequent data transmission:

a) no qualified SSB is valid when the evaluation for CG-SDT is performed;

b) when TA is invalid; and

c) when SR is triggered due to lack of UL resource

After the initial data transmission of a SDT procedure, subsequent transmissions are handled differently depending on the type of resources configured:

(1) When the SDT procedure uses CG resources, a network node can schedule a subsequent UL transmission using dynamic grants or they can take place on the next CG resource occasions.

(2) When the SDT procedure uses RACH resources (2-step RACH resources and/or 4-step RACH resources) , the network node can schedule subsequent UL and DL transmissions using dynamic grants and assignments, respectively, after completing the RA procedure.

For CG-SDT, a RSRP threshold may be configured for a beam (e.g., SSB) selection. A UE selects one beam (e.g., SSB) with RSRP above the RSRP threshold and selects the associated CG resource for an UL data transmission. For the initial CG transmission, the UE does not select any SSB, if none of the SSBs’ RSRP is above the RSRP threshold. If none of the SSBs’ RSRP is above the RSRP threshold, i.e., CG-SDT criterion is not met/fulfilled, the UE would not perform CG-SDT procedure. Then, the UE should evaluate whether RA-SDT criterion is met/fulfilled or not, for example, the UE would perform RA-SDT if RA-SDT criterion is met/fulfilled. The UE selects any SSBs to perform RA-SDT if there is no qualified SSB for RA-SDT, which is like in legacy.

Events that trigger a termination or a failure of an ongoing SDT (e.g. CG-SDT or RA-SDT) session include: (1) a cell re-selection, (2) an expiry of a SDT failure detection timer, and (3) when a maximum re-transmission number is reached in an radio link control (RLC) layer of a UE. When a UE detects a failure of an ongoing SDT session, the UE transits autonomously into RRC_IDLE state.

Regarding an UL carrier selection, in legacy, for an RA procedure in a cell configured with SUL, a network node can explicitly signal which carrier to use (NUL carrier or SUL carrier) . Otherwise, if the network node does not explicitly signal which carrier to use, the UE selects the SUL carrier if and only if the measured quality of the DL is lower than a RSRP threshold. The UE performs a carrier selection before selecting between 2-step RA type and 4-step RA type. The RSRP threshold for selecting between 2-step RA type and 4-step RA type can be configured separately for NUL and SUL. Once started, all uplink transmissions of the RA procedure remain on the selected carrier.

Considering SDT, if both NUL and SUL are configured, the UL carrier selection for SDT is performed, e.g., before selecting whether to perform CG-SDT or RA-SDT (e.g., 2-step RA-SDT or 4-step RA-SDT) . The UE selects the SUL carrier if and only if the measured quality of the cell is lower than a RSRP threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-ThresholdSSB-SUL) . In other words, if the serving Cell for SDT is configured with SUL, and if the RSRP of the downlink pathloss reference is less than a RSRP threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-ThresholdSSB-SUL) , the UE selects the SUL carrier; otherwise, the UE selects the NUL carrier. The RSRP threshold for UL carrier selection for SDT is SDT specific. Once started, all uplink transmissions of the CG-SDT or RA-SDT procedure remain on the selected carrier.

Regarding selection between SDT and non-SDT procedure, upon arrival of data only for data radio bearer (s) (DRB (s) ) or signaling radio bearer (s) (SRB (s) ) for which a SDT procedure is enabled, a high level procedure for selection between the SDT procedure and a non-SDT procedure is as follows:

(1) If a CG-SDT criterion is met, a UE selects CG-SDT, i.e., the UE initiates a CG-SDT procedure.

(2) Else if an RA-SDT criterion is met, the UE selects RA-SDT, i.e., the UE initiates a RA-SDT procedure.

(3) Else, the UE initiates a non-SDT procedure, e.g., the UE initiates a RRC resume procedure as legacy, for example, the UE performs a legacy RACH for RRC resume.

Before an initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for CG-SDT, a UE would determine whether a criterion for performing CG-SDT is met/fulfilled. A criterion for performing CG-SDT is considered as met/fulfilled, if all of following conditions are met; and a criterion for performing CG-SDT is considered as not met/fulfilled, if any of the following conditions is not met:

(1) An available user data volume is smaller than or equal to the data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) , e.g., total sum of buffer size across RBs (e.g., SDT RBs) can be considered as the available user data volume to be transmitted. In the other words, a data volume of the pending UL data across all logical channels configured for SDT is less than or equal to the data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) .

(2) A RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) , e.g., the quality (e.g., RSRP) of the cell where to perform SDT (i.e., CG-SDT) is greater than or equal to the configured threshold, the cell may be the one which sends the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message or the CG configuration information to the UE, or the cell may be the latest serving cell before the UE enters RRC_INACTIVE state from RRC_CONNECTED state. In the other words, the RSRP of the downlink pathloss reference is higher than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) .

(3) CG resources for SDT are configured and are valid (i.e., CG resources for SDT are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, CG resources for SDT are valid in the cell in which the RRCRelease message or the RRCConnectionRelease message is received, which means that the UE does not perform cell reselection after receiving the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message, or the cell where to perform SDT is the cell in which the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message is received) .

(4) A UE has valid TA. The TA validation mechanism for SDT and when the TA is considered as valid have been described above.

(5) A beam RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) , e.g., the quality (e.g., RSRP) of a beam within the cell where to perform SDT is greater than or equal to the configured threshold (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) . For example, if at least one of the SSBs with RSRP above cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB is available, the UE selects an SSB with RSRP above cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB, selects the configured grant type 1 configuration of the selected UL carrier associated with the selected SSB, and selects the CG occasion corresponding to the selected SSB and the selected configured grant type 1 configuration.

Before an initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT, a UE would determine whether a criterion for performing RA-SDT is met/fulfilled. A criterion for performing RA-SDT is considered as met/fulfilled, if all of the following conditions are met; and a criterion for performing RA-SDT is considered as not met/fulfilled, if any of the following conditions is not met:

(1) An available user data volume is smaller than or equal to the data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) , e.g., total sum of buffer size across RBs (e.g., SDT RBs) can be considered as the user data volume to be transmitted. In the other words, a data volume of the pending UL data across all logical channels configured for SDT is less than or equal to the data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) .

(2) A RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) , e.g., the quality (e.g., RSRP) of the cell where to perform SDT (i.e., RA-SDT) is greater than or equal to the configured threshold, the cell may be the one in which the RACH configuration information is received. In the other words, the RSRP of the downlink pathloss reference is higher than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) .

(3) RACH resources for SDT are configured and valid for the SDT procedure, e.g., when 2-step RACH resources for SDT are configured and criterion to select 2-step RA-SDT is met (i.e., 2-step RA-SDT resources are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, an available beam can be used for 2-step RA-SDT procedure, e.g., the UE prioritizes to select a qualified beam whose RSRP is higher than a threshold to perform 2-step RA-SDT; otherwise, the UE would select any SSBs to perform 2-step RA-SDT if there is no qualified beam) , the UE performs 2-step RA-SDT.

(4) RACH resources for SDT are configured and valid for the SDT procedure, e.g., when 4-step RACH resources for SDT are configured and criterion to select 4-step RA-SDT is met (i.e., 4-step RA-SDT resources are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, an available beam can be used for 4-step RA-SDT procedure, e.g., the UE prioritizes to select a qualified beam whose RSRP is higher than a threshold to perform 4-step RA-SDT; otherwise, the UE would select any SSBs to perform 4-step RA-SDT if there is no qualified beam) , the UE performs 4-step RA-SDT.

(5) When both 2-step RACH and 4-step RACH resources are configured, RA type selection is performed based on RSRP threshold, i.e., if RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured RSRP threshold (which is specific to SDT) for RA type selection for a SDT procedure, the UE performs 2-step RA-SDT if criterion to select 2-step RA-SDT is met (i.e., 2-step RA-SDT resources are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, an available beam can be used for 2-step RA-SDT procedure, e.g., the UE prioritizes to select a qualified beam whose RSRP is higher than a threshold to perform 2-step RA-SDT; otherwise, the UE would select any SSBs to perform 2-step RA-SDT if there is no qualified beam) ; and otherwise, the UE performs 4-step RA-SDT if criterion to select 4-step RA-SDT is met (i.e., 4-step RA-SDT resources are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, an available beam can be used for 4-step RA-SDT procedure, e.g., the UE prioritizes to select a qualified beam whose RSRP is higher than a threshold to perform 4-step RA-SDT; otherwise, the UE would select any SSBs to perform 4-step RA-SDT if there is no qualified beam) .

Specifically, at least following parameters should be included in RACH configuration information:

a) A RSRP threshold for an RA type selection is specific to a SDT procedure (i.e., separately configured for the SDT procedure) . For example, sdt-MSGA-RSRP-Threshold is an RSRP threshold for an RA type selection, e.g., selection between 2-step RA-SDT type and 4-step RA-SDT type when both 2-step and 4-step RA type RACH resources for a SDT procedure are configured in the selected UL carrier.

b) RACH resources for SDT, e.g., type 1 CG resources (e.g., 2-step RACH resources, 4-step RACH resources) .

c) a RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using RACH resources, e.g., ra-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB.

Currently, switching from a SDT procedure (e.g., CG-SDT or RA-SDT) to a non-SDT procedure is supported. For example, a UE switches from a SDT procedure to a non-SDT procedure in following cases:

(1) Case 1: a UE receives, from a network node, an indication to switch to non-SDT procedure. A network node can send the indication via the RRCResume message. RA-SDT does not support switching from a SDT procedure to a non-SDT procedure via a random access response (RAR) , a fallback RAR, or downlink control information (DCI) sent by the network node.

(2) Case 2: an initial UL transmission (e.g., msgA/Msg3/CG resources) fails up to configured number of times, e.g., the configured maximum number of SDT based UL transmission times is reached, or the failed UL transmission (e.g., MsgA/Msg3/CG resources) reaches the configured number of times.

A RSRP threshold to select between a SDT procedure and a non-SDT procedure may be used for both CG-SDT and RA-SDT. The RSRP threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) may be the same for both CG-SDT and RA-SDT.

A data volume threshold is used for a UE to decide whether to do a SDT procedure or not. A data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) may be the same for both CG-SDT and RA-SDT.

Regarding medium access control (MAC) handling of a SDT procedure, a MAC entity of a UE may be configured by RRC signaling with a SDT procedure, and the SDT procedure is initiated by a RRC layer of a UE. The SDT procedure can be performed either by a RA procedure with 2-step RA type (i.e., 2-step RA-SDT) or 4-step RA type (i.e., 4-step RA-SDT) or by CG type 1 (i.e., CG-SDT) .

In particular, RRC signaling may configure following parameters for a SDT procedure:

(1) sdt-DataVolumeThreshold: data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform SDT procedure;

(2) sdt-RSRP-Threshold: RSRP threshold for UE to determine whether to perform SDT procedure;

(3) sdt-RSRP-ThresholdSSB-SUL: RSRP threshold for the selection between the NUL carrier and SUL carrier for SDT;

(4) cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdIncrease: RSRP threshold for the increase of RSRP for time alignment validation;

(5) cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdDecrease: RSRP threshold for the decrease of RSRP for time alignment validation.

The MAC entity of a UE shall:

1> if the data volume of the pending UL data across all logical channels configured for SDT is less than or equal to sdt-DataVolumeThreshold, and;

1> if the RSRP of the downlink pathloss reference is higher than sdt-RSRP-Threshold, if configured:

2> if the Serving Cell for SDT is configured with supplementary uplink; and

2> if the RSRP of the downlink pathloss reference is less than sdt-RSRP-ThresholdSSB-SUL:

3> select the SUL carrier.

2> else:

3> select the NUL carrier.

2> if CG-SDT is configured on the selected UL carrier, and the configured grant type 1 resource is valid according to clause 2.3.1:

3> initiate SDT with configured grant type 1 on the selected UL carrier;

3> indicate to the upper layer that conditions for initiating SDT are fulfilled.

2> else if RA-SDT is configured on the selected UL carrier:

3> initiate Random Access procedure on the selected UL carrier for SDT;

3> else:

4> indicate to the upper layer that the conditions to initiate SDT cannot be fulfilled;

1> else:

2> indicate to the upper layer that the conditions to initiate SDT cannot be fulfilled.

Regarding validation for CG-SDT, the MAC entity shall consider a CG-SDT resource or TA of the cell for SDT to be valid when following conditions are fulfilled:

(1) compared to the stored downlink pathloss reference RSRP value, the RSRP has not increased by more than cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdIncrease, if configured; and

(2) compared to the stored downlink pathloss reference RSRP value, the RSRP has not decreased by more than cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdDecrease, if configured.

In 3GPP Rel-17, to enable a SDT procedure in RRC_INACTIVE state, a network node can configure CG resources and/or RACH resources for a SDT procedure to a UE. A UE can perform a SDT procedure using CG and/or RACH resources when the UE finds that the corresponding criterion is met. When CG configuration information (e.g., CG resources for SDT) and/or RACH configuration information (e.g., RACH resources for SDT) are not proper, the SDT procedure may not be triggered/initiated/performed, or the SDT procedure may be performed but failed. Therefore, the UE needs to log/record/store and report assistant information to a network node, for optimizing CG configuration information and/or RACH configuration information. Currently, for instance, following issues are addressed:

(1) Issue 1: when CG configuration information for a SDT procedure are configured, what information should be logged/recorded/stored, to let a network node know the reason why the SDT procedure is not triggered/initiated/performed or why the CG-SDT procedure is performed but failed.

(2) Issue 2: when RACH configuration information for a SDT procedure are configured, what information should be logged/recorded/stored, to let a network node know the reason why the SDT procedure is not triggered/initiated/performed or why the RA-SDT procedure is performed but failed.

(3) Issue 3: when a SDT procedure (e.g., CG-SDT using CG resources or RA-SDT using RACH resources) is performed but switched to a non-SDT procedure during SDT transmission phase or during the ongoing session of the SDT procedure, what information should be logged/recorded/stored, to let a network node know the reason why the SDT procedure is switched to the non-SDT procedure.

(4) Issue 4: when a UE is triggered to log/record/store information related to a SDT procedure and/or a non-SDT procedure.

Embodiments of the present application aim to solve the above-mentioned issues. Specifically, some embodiments of the present application makes a network node know the reason why a SDT procedure using CG resources is not triggered or the CG-SDT procedure is performed but failed. Some embodiments of the present application make a network node know the reason why a SDT procedure using RACH resources is not triggered or the SDT procedure using RACH resources is performed but failed. Some embodiments of the present application make a network node know the reason why a SDT procedure is switched to a non-SDT procedure. Some embodiments of the present application define condition (s) for a UE to log information related to a SDT procedure and/or a non-SDT procedure. More details will be illustrated in the following text in combination with the appended drawings.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus 200 may include at least one processor 204 and at least one transceiver 202 coupled to the processor 204. The at least one transceiver 202 may be a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver. The apparatus 200 may be a UE or a network node (e.g., a BS) .

Although in this figure, elements such as the at least one transceiver 202 and the processor 204 are described in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless a limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. In some embodiments of the present application, the transceiver 202 may be divided into two devices, such as a receiving circuitry and a transmitting circuitry. In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 200 may further include an input device, a memory, and/or other components.

In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 200 may be a UE (e.g., UE 101a, UE 101b, or UE 510 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) . The processor 204 of the UE may be configured: to store information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” ; and to transmit, via the transceiver 202 to a network node (e.g., BS 102 or network node 520 or network node 530 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) , the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . According to some embodiments, the SDT procedure uses at least one of: CG resources, or RACH resources.

According to some embodiments, the processor 204 of the UE may be configured to obtain one or more triggering conditions. In some embodiments, the one or more triggering conditions may be obtained via the transceiver from the network node. In some other embodiments, the one or more triggering conditions may be obtained from an upper layer of the UE.

In some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” may be stored in response to the obtained one or more triggering conditions being fulfilled. In some embodiments, the one or more triggering conditions include at least one of:

(1) CG configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(2) RACH configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(3) a criterion for performing the SDT procedure using CG resources is not met/fulfilled;

(4) a criterion for performing the SDT procedure using RACH resources is not met/fulfilled;

(5) the SDT procedure is switched to a non-SDT procedure; or

(6) a failure occurs during an ongoing session of the SDT procedure.

According to some embodiments, in response to the UE receiving the CG configuration information for the SDT procedure, the criterion for performing the SDT procedure using CG resources includes at least one of:

(1) an available user data volume is smaller than or equal to a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

(2) RSRP of a cell of the UE is greater than or equal to a first RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

(3) RSRP of a beam of the UE is greater than or equal to a second RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources;

(4) the CG resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure; or

(5) a TA is valid for the SDT procedure.

According to some embodiments, in response to the UE receiving the RACH configuration information for the SDT procedure, the criterion for performing the SDT procedure using RACH resources includes at least one of:

(2) RSRP of a cell of the UE is greater than or equal to a first RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure; or

(3) the RACH resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure.

According to some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” includes at least one of:

(1) An indication to indicate whether a user data volume is smaller than or equal to a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

(2) An indication to indicate whether RSRP of a cell of the UE is greater than or equal to a first RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

(3) An indication to indicate whether RSRP of a beam of the UE is greater than or equal to a second RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources;

(4) An indication to indicate whether the RSRP of the beam of the UE is greater than or equal to a third RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using RACH resources;

(5) An indication to indicate whether a TA is valid for the SDT procedure;

(6) An indication to indicate whether CG resources are valid for the SDT procedure;

(7) An indication to indicate whether RACH resources are valid for the SDT procedure;

(8) a specific RA purpose for the SDT procedure using the RACH resources; or

(9) An indication to indicate whether a configured maximum number of uplink (UL) transmission times of the SDT procedure is reached.

(1) a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

(2) a 1st RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

(3) a 2nd RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources;

(4) a 3rd RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using random access channel (RACH) resources;

(5) a 4th RSRP threshold for selecting between the NUL carrier and SUL carrier for the SDT procedure;

(6) a 5th RSRP threshold for an RA type selection;

(7) an actual data volume before performing the SDT procedure;

(8) an actual data volume upon performing the SDT procedure;

(9) an actual RSRP of a cell before performing the SDT procedure;

(10) an actual RSRP of a cell upon performing the SDT procedure;

(11) an actual RSRP of a beam before performing the SDT procedure;

(12) an actual RSRP of a beam upon performing the SDT procedure;

(13) a maximum UL transmission times configured for the SDT procedure;

(14) an identifier (ID) of a cell in which the SDT procedure is performed;

(15) an identifier (ID) of a cell in which the non-SDT procedure is performed;

(16) an index of a beam used to perform the SDT procedure;

(17) an index of a beam used to perform a non-SDT procedure;

(18) frequency information of CG resources used for the SDT procedure;

(19) frequency information of RACH resources used for the SDT procedure;

(20) An indication to indicate whether a cell reselection procedure is triggered during an ongoing session of the SDT procedure;

(21) An indication to indicate whether a SDT failure detection timer expires during the ongoing session of the SDT procedure; or

(22) An indication to indicate whether a maximum retransmission times is reached in an RLC layer of the UE during the ongoing session of the SDT procedure.

According to some embodiments, the processor 204 of the UE may be configured to transmit, via the transceiver 202 to the network node, an indicator indicating that the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” is stored in the UE. In some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) setup complete message or a RRC resume complete message. In some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a RRC connection setup complete message or a RRC connection resume complete message.

According to some embodiments, the processor 204 of the UE may be configured to receive, via the transceiver 202 from the network node, a request message for the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” .

In some embodiments, the request message includes an indicator for requiring the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . In some embodiments, the request message is a UE information request message.

In some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” is transmitted after receiving the request message. In some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” is transmitted via a UE information response message.

In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 200 may be a network node (e.g., BS 102 or network node 520 or network node 530 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) . The processor 204 of the network node may be configured to receive, via the transceiver 202 of the network node from a UE (e.g., UE 101a, UE 101b, or UE 510 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) , an indicator indicating that information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” is stored in the UE. According to some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a RRC setup complete message or a RRC resume complete message. According to some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a RRC connection setup complete message or a RRC connection resume complete message.

The processor 204 of the network node may be configured to transmit, via the transceiver 202 to the UE, a request message for the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . According to some embodiments, the request message includes an indicator for requiring the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . In some embodiments, the request message is a UE information request message.

The processor 204 of the network node may be configured to receive, via the transceiver 202, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” from the UE. In some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” is received via a UE information response message.

According to some embodiments, the SDT procedure uses at least one of: configured grant (CG) resources, or random access channel (RACH) resources.

According to some embodiments, the processor 204 of the network node may be configured to transmit one or more triggering conditions. In some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” may be stored in response to the one or more triggering conditions being fulfilled. In some embodiments, the one or more triggering conditions include at least one of:

(1) CG configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(2) RACH configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(5) the SDT procedure is switched to a non-SDT procedure; or

(6) a failure occurs during an ongoing session of the SDT procedure.

In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 200 may include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the non-transitory computer-readable medium may have stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause a processor to implement the method with respect to a UE or a network node (e.g., a BS) as described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 204 interacting with the transceiver 202, so as to perform operations of the methods, e.g., as described in view of FIGS. 3-5.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method for storing/logging/recording information related to a SDT procedure according to some embodiments of the present application. The method 300 may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 101 as shown and illustrated in any of FIG. 1) . Although described with respect to a UE, it should be understood that other devices may also be configured to perform the method as shown and illustrated in FIG. 3.

In the exemplary method 300 as shown in FIG. 3, in operation 301, a UE (e.g., UE 101 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1) stores information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” . In operation 302, the UE transmits the stored information to a network node (e.g., BS 102 or network node 520 or network node 530 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) . According to some embodiments, the SDT procedure uses at least one of: CG resources, or RACH resources.

It is contemplated that the method illustrated in FIG. 3 may include other operation (s) not shown, for example, any operation (s) described with respect to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5.

According to some embodiments, the UE may obtain one or more triggering conditions. In some embodiments, the one or more triggering conditions may be obtained from the network node. In some other embodiments, the one or more triggering conditions may be obtained from an upper layer of the UE.

(1) CG configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(2) RACH configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(5) the SDT procedure is switched to a non-SDT procedure; or

(6) a failure occurs during an ongoing session of the SDT procedure.

(4) the CG resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure; or

(5) a TA is valid for the SDT procedure.

(3) the RACH resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure.

(5) An indication to indicate whether a TA is valid for the SDT procedure;

(8) a specific RA purpose for the SDT procedure using the RACH resources; or

(6) a 5th RSRP threshold for an RA type selection;

(7) an actual data volume before performing the SDT procedure;

(8) an actual data volume upon performing the SDT procedure;

(9) an actual RSRP of a cell before performing the SDT procedure;

(10) an actual RSRP of a cell upon performing the SDT procedure;

(11) an actual RSRP of a beam before performing the SDT procedure;

(12) an actual RSRP of a beam upon performing the SDT procedure;

(13) a maximum UL transmission times configured for the SDT procedure;

(14) an identifier (ID) of a cell in which the SDT procedure is performed;

(15) an identifier (ID) of a cell in which the non-SDT procedure is performed;

(16) an index of a beam used to perform the SDT procedure;

(17) an index of a beam used to perform a non-SDT procedure;

(18) frequency information of CG resources used for the SDT procedure;

(19) frequency information of RACH resources used for the SDT procedure;

According to some embodiments, the UE may transmit, to the network node, an indicator indicating that the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” is stored in the UE. In some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a RRC setup complete message or a RRC resume complete message. In some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a RRC connection setup complete message or a RRC connection resume complete message.

According to some embodiments, the UE may receive, from the network node, a request message for the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . In some embodiments, the request message includes an indicator for requiring the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . In some embodiments, the request message is a UE information request message.

Details described in all other embodiments of the present application (for example, details regarding enhancements of a MDT mechanism for a SDT procedure) are applicable for the embodiments of FIG. 3. Moreover, details described in the embodiments of FIG. 3 are applicable for all embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5. It should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the sequence of the operations in exemplary procedure in the embodiments of FIG. 3 may be changed and some of the operations in exemplary procedure in the embodiments of FIG. 3 may be eliminated or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method for receiving information related to a SDT procedure according to some embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of FIG. 4 may be performed by a network node (e.g., BS 102 or network node 520 or network node 530 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) . Although described with respect to a network node, it should be understood that other devices may be configured to perform a method similar to that of FIG. 4.

In the exemplary method 400 as shown in FIG. 4, in operation 401, a network node (e.g., BS 102 or network node 520 or network node 530 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) receives, from a UE (e.g., UE 101a, UE 101b, or UE 510 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5) , an indicator indicating that information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” is stored in the UE. According to some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a RRC setup complete message or a RRC resume complete message. In some embodiments, the indicator is carried in a RRC connection setup complete message or a RRC connection resume complete message.

In operation 402 as shown in FIG. 4, the network node transmits, to the UE, a request message for the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . According to some embodiments, the request message includes an indicator for requiring the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . In some embodiments, the request message is a UE information request message. According to some embodiments, the SDT procedure uses at least one of: CG resources, or RACH resources.

In operation 403 as shown in FIG. 4, the network node receives, from the UE, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” . In some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” is received via a UE information response message.

It is contemplated that the method illustrated in FIG. 4 may include other operation (s) not shown, for example, any operation (s) described with respect to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5.

According to some embodiments, the network node may transmit one or more triggering conditions. In some embodiments, the information related to the at least one of “the SDT procedure” or “the non-SDT procedure” may be stored in response to the one or more triggering conditions being fulfilled. In some embodiments, the one or more triggering conditions include at least one of:

(1) CG configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(2) RACH configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

(5) the SDT procedure is switched to a non-SDT procedure; or

(6) a failure occurs during an ongoing session of the SDT procedure.

(4) the CG resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure; or

(5) a TA is valid for the SDT procedure.

(3) the RACH resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure.

(5) an indication to indicate whether a TA is valid for the SDT procedure;

(8) a specific RA purpose for the SDT procedure using the RACH resources; or

(9) an indication to indicate whether a configured maximum number of UL transmission times of the SDT procedure is reached.

(6) a 5th RSRP threshold for an RA type selection;

(7) an actual data volume before performing the SDT procedure;

(8) an actual data volume upon performing the SDT procedure;

(9) an actual RSRP of a cell before performing the SDT procedure;

(10) an actual RSRP of a cell upon performing the SDT procedure;

(11) an actual RSRP of a beam before performing the SDT procedure;

(12) an actual RSRP of a beam upon performing the SDT procedure;

(13) a maximum UL transmission times configured for the SDT procedure;

(14) an identifier (ID) of a cell in which the SDT procedure is performed;

(15) an identifier (ID) of a cell in which the SDT procedure is performed;

(16) an index of a beam used to perform the SDT procedure;

(17) an index of a beam used to perform a non-SDT procedure;

(18) frequency information of CG resources used for the SDT procedure;

(19) frequency information of RACH resources used for the SDT procedure;

Details described in all other embodiments of the present application (for example, details regarding enhancements of a MDT mechanism for a SDT procedure) are applicable for the embodiments of FIG. 4. Moreover, details described in the embodiments of FIG. 4 are applicable for all embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 5. It should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the sequence of the operations in exemplary procedure in the embodiments of FIG. 4 may be changed and some of the operations in exemplary procedure in the embodiments of FIG. 4 may be eliminated or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a MDT mechanism for a SDT procedure according to some embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of FIG. 5 aim to solve the above-mentioned issue 4, i.e., when a UE is triggered to log information related to a SDT procedure and/or a non-SDT procedure.

In the embodiments of FIG. 5, UE 510, which is capable of a MDT mechanism, can be configured with a logging operation on information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” . In some cases, the information related to at least one of “a SDT procedure” or “a non-SDT procedure” may be named as “SDT related information” or the like.

In operation 501 as shown in FIG. 5, network node 520 (e.g., BS 102 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1) , i.e., a serving node, sends logged MDT configuration to UE 510 in a connected mode. Contents of logged MDT configuration can refer to 3GPP standard document TS38.331. For example, the contents of the logged MDT configuration can include loggedPeriodicalReportConfig, loggedEventTriggerConfig, and etc. In some embodiments, the logged MDT configuration can be sent to UE 510 via the LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message.

In the embodiments of FIG. 5, when the logged MDT configuration is configured, whether or when UE 510 logs/stores/records the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure can be configured implicitly (e.g., in Option 1) or explicitly (e.g., in Option 2) .

(1) Option 1: UE 510 configured with the logged MDT configuration can log/store/record the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure whenever UE 510 is configured with SDT configurations (e.g. SDT configurations include CG configuration information and/or RACH configuration information) or UE 510 performs the SDT procedure. For example, when CG configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE, and/or, when RACH configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE, the UE would log/store/record the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure. In the other words, when the CG-SDT procedure is triggered/initiated/performed, and/or, when the RA-SDT procedure is triggered/initiated/performed, the UE would log/store/record the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure.

(2) Option 2: UE 510 configured with the logged MDT configuration can log/store/record the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure when at least one of following conditions is met:

a) When a criterion for performing CG-SDT is considered as not met/fulfilled (e.g., when a criterion for the user data volume is not met (e.g., an available user data volume is neither smaller than nor equal to a data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) for a UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure) , and/or when a criterion for the cell RSRP is not met (e.g., RSRP of a cell where a UE performs SDT is neither greater than nor equal to a RSRP threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure) , and/or when a criterion for the beam RSRP is not met (e.g., RSRP of a beam of a UE is neither greater than nor equal to a RSRP threshold (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources) , and/or when CG-SDT resources are not valid, and/or when TA is not valid) .

b) When a criterion for performing RA-SDT is considered as not met/fulfilled (e.g., when a criterion for the user data volume is not met (e.g., an available user data volume is neither smaller than nor equal to a data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) for a UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure) , and/or when a criterion for the cell RSRP is not met (e.g., RSRP of a cell where a UE performs SDT is neither greater than nor equal to a RSRP threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure) , and/or when RACH resources for SDT are not valid) .

c) When switching from the SDT procedure (e.g. CG-SDT procedure or RA-SDT procedure) to a non-SDT procedure (e.g., when an indication for switching from the SDT procedure to the non-SDT procedure is received from the network, e.g., network node 520 or other network node (e.g., network node 530) where the ongoing session of the SDT procedure is performed, or when the configured maximum number of UL transmission times of the SDT procedure is reached) .

d) When the ongoing session of the SDT procedure (i.e., CG-SDT or RA-SDT) fails (e.g., when (1) a cell reselection, and/or (2) an expiry of the SDT failure detection timer (e.g., which is started when SDT is triggered/initiated/performed) , and/or (3) when a maximum retransmission is reached in a RLC layer of UE 510, occurs during the ongoing SDT session of the SDT procedure) .

In Option 2, the above conditions can be configured by network node 520 and sent to UE 510 in a connected mode, e.g., via LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message or a new introduced message. For example, network node 520 can configure the above conditions together with the legacy logged MDT configuration (e.g., loggedPeriodicalReportConfig, loggedEventTriggerConfig) in operation 501, or network node 520 can configure the above conditions separately from the legacy logged MDT configuration.

In Option 2, the above conditions can be defined in the 3GPP specification, e.g., the triggering condition (s) may be obtained from an upper layer of the UE.

In operation 502 as shown in FIG. 5, network node 520 sends CG configuration information for SDT to UE 510, e.g., via the RRCRelease message or the RRCConnectionRelease message. In operation 503, network node 520 sends RA configuration information for SDT to UE 510, e.g., via a SIB message.

The

operations

502 and 503 are optional in some embodiments of FIG. 5 and thus are marked as dashed lines as shown in FIG. 5. In some embodiments, network node 520 may only perform the operation 502 (wherein a sequential order of performing the

operations

501 and 502 may vary in different embodiments) . In some further embodiments, network node 520 may only perform the operation 503 (wherein a sequential order of performing the

operations

501 and 503 may vary in different embodiments) . In some other embodiments, network node 520 may perform both the operations 502 and 503 (wherein a sequential order of performing the

operations

501, 502, and 503 may vary in different embodiments) .

In operation 504 as shown in FIG. 5, UE 510 logs/stores/records the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure. Details for the logged/stored/recorded information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure may refer to the embodiments of FIGS. 1-4 and following Embodiment 1-3. In order to efficiently save memory or complexity of UE 510, the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure only for the latest SDT and/or the latest non-SDT procedure or the last N SDT and/or last M non-SDT procedures may be stored while overriding the oldest logged/stored/recorded information, wherein N and/or M is an integer number in some cases.

In operation 505 or operation 505A as shown in FIG. 5, upon entering RRC_CONNECTED, the connected serving node may be network node 520 or other network node which is different from network node 520 (e.g., the other network node is network node 530 as shown in FIG. 5, which may be a BS similar as BS 102 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1) where UE 510 enters RRC_CONNECTED state, UE 510 storing/logging/recording the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure informs the connected serving cell that it has logged information for the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure. For instance, if UE 510 enters RRC_CONNECTED state in network node 520 where previously UE 510 receives the RRCRelease message or the RRCConnectionRelease message which includes SDT configurations, UE 510 may inform network node 520 via an availability indicator indicating that UE 510 has logged information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, or via a common availability indicator for logged MDT (e.g., reuse the existing indicator for logged MDT in legacy to indicate that UE 510 has logged information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure) . The availability indicator may be included in the RRCSetupComplete message or the RRCResumeComplete message. The public land mobile network (PLMN) supported in the serving cell would be equal to the PLMN of the cells where UE 510 received SDT related configurations (CG configuration information and/or RACH configuration information for SDT) or where UE 510 triggered/performed the SDT procedure.

In operation 506 or operation 506A as shown in FIG. 5, the connected serving node (e.g., network node 520 or other network node which is different from network node 520 (e.g., network node 530) where UE 510 enters RRC_CONNECTED state) requests UE 510 to send the logged/stored/record information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, e.g., via the UEinformationrequest message or a new introduced message. For instance, an indicator that requires the logged information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure can be included in the UEinformationrequest message.

In operation 507 or operation 507A as shown in FIG. 5, UE 510 sends the logged information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure to the connected serving node (e.g., network node 520 or other network node which is different from network node 520 (e.g., network node 530) where UE 510 enters RRC_CONNECTED state) , e.g., via the UEinformationresponse message or a new introduced message. In another way, UE 510 can send the logged information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure by an extended RA report or connection establishment failure (CEF) report, or a dedicated report for the logged information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure.

Details described in all other embodiments of the present application (for example, details regarding enhancements of a MDT mechanism for a SDT procedure) are applicable for the embodiments of FIG. 5. Moreover, details described in the embodiments of FIG. 5 are applicable for all the embodiments of FIGS. 1-4.

The following texts describe specific Embodiments 1-3 of the methods as shown and illustrated in FIGS. 3-5. According to Embodiments 1-3, a UE and a network node perform following operations. The UE may be UE 101a, UE 101b, or UE 510 as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5. The network node may be BS 102 or other BS or network node 520 or other network node which is different from network node 520 (e.g., network node 530) where UE 510 enters RRC_CONNECTED state or other network node (e.g., network node 530) where the ongoing session of the SDT procedure is performed as shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5.

Embodiment 1

Embodiment 1 aims to solve the above-mentioned issue 1, i.e., when CG configuration information for a SDT procedure are configured, what information should be logged/recorded/stored, to let a network node know the reason why the SDT procedure is not triggered/initiated/performed or why the CG-SDT procedure is performed but failed.

In Embodiment 1, CG-SDT can be performed when the criterion for performing the SDT procedure using CG resources is met/fulfilled, e.g., when all of following conditions are met:

(1) An available user data volume is smaller than or equal to a data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) , e.g., total sum of buffer size across RBs (e.g., SDT RBs) can be considered as the available user data volume to be transmitted. In the other words, a data volume of the pending UL data across all logical channels configured for SDT is less than or equal to the data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) .

(3) CG resources for SDT are configured and are valid (i.e., CG resources for SDT are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, CG resources for SDT are valid in the cell in which the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message is received, which means that the UE does not perform cell reselection after receiving the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message, or the cell where to perform SDT is the cell in which the RRCRelease message or RRCConnectionRelease message is received) .

(4) A UE has valid TA (the TA validation mechanism for SDT and when the TA is considered as valid have been described above) .

(5) A beam RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) , e.g., the quality (e.g., RSRP) of a beam within the cell where to perform SDT is greater than or equal to the configured threshold (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) . For example, if at least one of the SSBs with RSRP above cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB is available, the UE selects an SSB with RSRP above cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB, selects the CG type 1 configuration of the selected UL carrier associated with the selected SSB, and selects the CG occasion corresponding to the selected SSB and the selected configured grant type 1 configuration.

Obviously, in Embodiment 1, before an initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for CG-SDT, i.e. before an initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase, it is the UE to determine whether a criterion for performing CG-SDT is met/fulfilled. In some cases, after CG resources for the SDT procedure are configured to a UE, in an initial CG transmission phase, conditions for CG-SDT are not met/fulfilled (CG-SDT is not initiated or triggered) , or in a subsequent CG transmission phase, CG-SDT is not triggered but switched to RA-SDT; or in a subsequent CG transmission phase, CG-SDT is not triggered but switched to non-SDT (i.e., legacy RRC resume procedure) . In some other cases, after CG resources for the SDT procedure are configured to a UE, in the initial or subsequent CG transmission phase, CG-SDT is triggered/performed but switched to a non-SDT procedure, or the UE detects a failure of an ongoing CG-SDT session due to a cell reselection or an expiry of the SDT failure detection timer or a maximum re-transmission number is reached in a RLC layer, thus CG-SDT is performed but not successful.

In Embodiment 1, for the case that CG configuration information for the SDT procedure is configured to the UE, but CG-SDT is not initiated/triggered/performed, or CG-SDT is performed but not successful, to make a network node know the reason why CG-SDT is not performed or CG-SDT is not successful, in order to correspondingly optimize CG configuration information for the SDT procedure, at least one of following information for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase, which can be considered as information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, can be logged and reported by the UE:

(1) an indication to indicate whether the quality of a cell to perform CG-SDT is greater than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase;

(2) an indication to indicate whether there is a good beam for CG-SDT (i.e., whether beam RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured RSRP threshold e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources, in other words, an indication to indicate whether the quality (e.g., RSRP) of a beam within the cell where to perform SDT is greater than or equal to the configured threshold, e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase;

(3) an indication to indicate whether user data volume is smaller than or equal to the data volume threshold, e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase;

(4) an indication to indicate whether TA is valid for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase; besides this, the RSRP threshold for TA validation check, e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdDecrease and cg-SDT-RSRP-ChangeThresholdIncrease, can be logged and reported by the UE, also, the timer for TA validation check, e.g., SDT-TimeAlignmentTimer, can be logged and reported by the UE) ;

(5) an indication to indicate whether CG resources for SDT are valid (i.e., whether CG-SDT is performed in the cell where the corresponding CG resource configurations for the SDT procedure is received, whether the CG resources for SDT are configured on the selected UL carrier) for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase;

(6) a RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure, e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold;

(7) a beam RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the CG-SDT procedure (e.g., cg-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) ;

(8) a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure, e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold;

(9) an indication to indicate whether NUL carrier or SUL carrier is selected for the SDT procedure;

(10) a RSRP threshold for selecting an UL carrier, e.g., sdt-RSRP-ThresholdSSB-SUL, i.e., a RSRP threshold for selecting between the NUL carrier and SUL carrier for the SDT procedure;

(11) an actual data volume before or upon initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase;

(12) an actual cell and/or beam RSRP before or upon initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase;

(13) an indication to indicate whether CG-SDT is triggered/initiated/performed or not for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase, i.e., an indication to indicate whether the criterion for performing the CG-SDT (i.e., SDT procedure using CG resources) is met/fulfilled for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase; or

(14) an indication to indicate whether CG-SDT is successful or not when CG-SDT is triggered/initiated/performed for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase, i.e., an indication to indicate whether CG-SDT is successful or not for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase when the criterion for performing the CG-SDT (i.e., SDT procedure using CG resources) is met/fulfilled.

In addition, in Embodiment 1, for the case that CG-SDT is performed but not successful in initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase, at least one of following information for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase, which can be considered as information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, can be logged and reported by the UE:

(1) An identifier (ID) of the cell in which the CG-SDT/CG resource transmission is performed, e.g., the ID can be the CGI, and/or, PCI+ frequency information, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(2) An identifier (ID) of the cell in which the non-SDT is performed, e.g., the ID can be the CGI, and/or, PCI+ frequency information, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(3) Information of the BWP where CG-SDT/CG resource transmission is performed, e.g., frequency information of the BWP, BWP ID, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(4) Frequency information of CG resources, e.g., CG resource-FrequencyStart, CG resource -SubcarrierSpacing, CG resource-FDM, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(5) An indication to indicate whether cell reselection is triggered during an ongoing CG-SDT session, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(6) An indication to indicate whether SDT failure detection timer expires during an ongoing CG-SDT session, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(7) An indication to indicate whether a maximum re-transmission number is reached in RLC during an ongoing CG-SDT session, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(8) A beam index (e.g., SSB index) used to perform CG-SDT, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(9) A beam index (e.g., SSB index) used to perform non-SDT, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(10) An indication indicating the criterion for performing CG-SDT is met/fulfilled, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(11) An indication to indicate if the CG-SDT is performed over NUL or SUL, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(12) Location information at the time when performing CG-SDT, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(13) Location information at the time when performing a non-SDT procedure, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(14) Total (or failed) CG-SDT based UL transmission (e.g., CG resources) times, i.e., total (or failed) UL transmission times for the CG-SDT procedure, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(15) Total (or failed) legacy RACH based UL transmission (e.g., preamble or Msg3 or Msg A) times, i.e., total (or failed) UL transmission times for the legacy RACH procedure, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(16) A failure type (e.g., a failure in CG-SDT procedure, a failure in non-SDT procedure) , for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(17) Time when a UE triggers CG-SDT, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(18) Time when a UE triggers a non-SDT procedure, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(19) An indication to indicate CG-SDT is performed but not successful, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

In Embodiment 1, for the case that CG-SDT is performed and successful, at least one of following information for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase, which can be considered as information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, can be logged and reported by the UE:

(2) Information of the BWP where CG-SDT/CG resource transmission is performed, e.g., frequency information of the BWP, BWP ID, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(3) Frequency information of CG resources, e.g., CG resource-FrequencyStart, CG resource -SubcarrierSpacing, CG resource-FDM, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(4) A beam index (e.g., SSB index) used to perform CG-SDT for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(5) An indication indicating the criterion for performing CG-SDT is met/fulfilled, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(6) An indication to indicate if the CG-SDT is performed over NUL or SUL, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(7) Location information at the time when performing CG-SDT, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(8) Total (or failed) CG-SDT based UL transmission (e.g., CG resources) times, i.e., total (or failed) UL transmission times for the CG-SDT procedure, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(9) Time when the UE triggers CG-SDT, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

(10) An indication to indicate that CG-SDT is performed successfully, for initial and/or subsequent CG transmission phase.

Embodiment 2

Embodiment 2 aims to solve the above-mentioned issue 2, i.e., when RACH resources for a SDT procedure are configured, what information should be logged/recorded/stored to let a network node know the reason why the SDT procedure is not triggered/initiated/performed or why the RA-SDT procedure is performed but failed.

In Embodiment 2, RA-SDT can be performed when the criterion for performing the SDT procedure using RACH resources is met/fulfilled, e.g., when all of following conditions are met:

(1) an available user data volume is smaller than or equal to the data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) , e.g., total sum of buffer size across RBs (e.g., SDT RBs) can be considered as the user data volume to be transmitted. In the other words, a data volume of the pending UL data across all logical channels configured for SDT is less than or equal to the data volume threshold (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold) ;

(2) a RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) , e.g., the quality (e.g., RSRP) of the cell where to perform SDT (i.e., RA-SDT) is greater than or equal to the configured threshold, the cell may be the one in which the RACH configuration information is received. In the other words, the RSRP of the downlink pathloss reference is higher than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) ;

(3) RACH resources for SDT are configured and valid for the SDT procedure, e.g., when 2-step RACH resources for SDT are configured and a criterion to select 2-step RA SDT is met (i.e., 2-step RA-SDT resources are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, an available beam can be used for 2-step RA-SDT procedure, e.g., the UE prioritizes to select a qualified beam whose RSRP is higher than a threshold to perform 2-step RA-SDT; otherwise, the UE would select any SSBs to perform 2-step RA-SDT if there is no qualified beam) ;

(4) RACH resources for SDT are configured and valid for the SDT procedure, e.g., when 4-step RACH resources for SDT are configured and a criterion to select 4-step RA SDT is met (i.e., 4-step RA-SDT resources are configured on the selected UL carrier, and/or, an available beam can be used for 4-step RA-SDT procedure, e.g., the UE prioritizes to select a qualified beam whose RSRP is higher than a threshold to perform 4-step RA-SDT; otherwise, the UE would select any SSBs to perform 4-step RA-SDT if there is no qualified beam) .

Obviously, in Embodiment 2, before an initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT, it is the UE to evaluate whether the conditions for RA-SDT are met/fulfilled. For the case that RACH resources for the SDT procedure are configured to the UE, but RA-SDT is not initiated or triggered (e.g., conditions for RA-SDT are not fulfilled) , or RA-SDT is performed but not successful (e.g., RA-SDT is triggered but switched to a non-SDT procedure (i.e., legacy RRC resume procedure) , or the UE detects a failure of an ongoing RA-SDT session due to a cell reselection or an expiry of the SDT failure detection timer or a maximum re-transmission number is reached in RLC) , to make a network node know why RA-SDT is not performed or whether RA-SDT resources are configured properly if RA-SDT is performed for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT (since a UE selects any SSBs if there is no qualified SSB (a qualified SSB is a beam whose quality is greater than or equal to a configured RSRP threshold, e.g., ra-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) for RA-SDT) , and thus enable the network node to optimize RACH configuration information for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT for the SDT procedure, at least one of following information, which can be considered as information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, can be logged and reported by the UE:

(1) An indication to indicate whether the quality of a cell to perform RA-SDT is greater than or equal to a configured threshold (e.g., sdt-RSRP-Threshold) for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT;

(2) An indication to indicate whether there is a good beam for RA-SDT (i.e., whether beam RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured RSRP threshold e.g., ra-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using RACH resources, in other words, an indication to indicate whether there is a beam whose quality (e.g., RSRP) is greater than or equal to the configured threshold, e.g., ra-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT;

(3) An indication to indicate whether the quality (RSRP) of a cell to perform RA-SDT is greater than or equal to a RSRP threshold (e.g., sdt-MSGA-RSRP-Threshold) for RA type selection if both 2-step RA-SDT and 4-step RA-SDT resources are configured, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT;

(4) An indication to indicate whether user data volume is smaller than or equal to the data volume threshold e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT;

(5) An indication to indicate whether RACH resources for SDT are valid/available (e.g., whether RACH resources for SDT are configured on the selected UL carrier) , for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT;

(7) a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure, e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold;

(8) a beam RSRP threshold for selecting a good beam to perform the RA-SDT procedure (e.g., ra-SDT-RSRP-ThresholdSSB) ;

(9) a RSRP threshold for selecting an UL carrier, e.g., sdt-RSRP-ThresholdSSB-SUL, i.e., a RSRP threshold for selecting between the NUL carrier and SUL carrier for the SDT procedure;

(10) a RSRP threshold (e.g., sdt-MSGA-RSRP-Threshold) for RA type selection if both 2-step RACH resources and 4-step RACH resources for SDT are configured;

(11) An actual data volume before or upon performing RA-SDT, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT;

(12) an actual cell and/or beam RSRP before or upon performing RA-SDT, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT;

(13) An indication to indicate whether RA-SDT is triggered/initiated/performed or not, i.e., an indication to indicate whether the criterion for performing the RA-SDT (i.e., SDT procedure using RACH resources) is met/fulfilled or not, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT; or

(14) An indication to indicate whether RA-SDT is successful or not when RA-SDT is triggered/initiated/performed, i.e., an indication to indicate whether RA-SDT is successful or not when the criterion for performing the RA-SDT (i.e., SDT procedure using RACH resources) is met/fulfilled, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

In Embodiment 2, in some cases, RA-SDT is performed but not successful, for example, RA-SDT is triggered but switched to a non-SDT procedure (i.e., a legacy RRC resume procedure) , or a UE detects a failure of an ongoing RA-SDT session due to a cell reselection or an expiry of the SDT failure detection timer or a maximum re-transmission number is reached in RLC. in Embodiment 2, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT, for the case that RA-SDT is performed but not successful, at least one of following information, which can be considered as information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, can be logged and reported by the UE:

(1) One specific RA purpose for RA-based SDT, e.g., RA-SDT, so that the network node could know the number of UEs performs RA-based SDT, it is helpful for the network node to optimize the resource allocation for RA-SDT. Also, a new cause value for RA, e.g., triggerForSDT can be introduced.

(2) An identifier (ID) of the cell in which the RA-SDT is performed, e.g., the ID can be the CGI, and/or, PCI+ frequency information, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(3) An identifier (ID) of the cell in which the non-SDT is performed, e.g., the ID can be the CGI, and/or, PCI+ frequency information, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(4) Information of the BWP where the RA-SDT is performed, e.g., frequency information of the BWP, BWP ID, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(5) Frequency information of RACH resources, e.g., msg1/msgA-FrequencyStart, msg1/msgA-SubcarrierSpacing, msg1/msgA-FDM, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(6) An indication to indicate whether cell reselection is triggered during an ongoing RA-SDT session, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(7) An indication to indicate whether SDT failure detection timer expires during an ongoing RA-SDT session, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(8) An indication to indicate whether a maximum re-transmission number is reached in RLC during an ongoing RA-SDT session, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(9) The beam index used to perform RA-SDT, e.g., SSB index, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(10) The beam index used to perform a non-SDT procedure, e.g., SSB index, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(11) An indication indicating the criterion for performing RA-SDT is met/fulfilled, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(12) An indication to indicate if the RA-SDT is performed over NUL or SUL, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(13) The location information at the time when performing RA-SDT, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(14) The location information at the time when performing a non-SDT procedure, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(15) Total (or failed) RA-SDT based UL transmission (e.g., Msg A or Msg3) times, i.e., total (or failed) UL transmission times for the RA-SDT procedure, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(16) Total (or failed) legacy RACH based UL transmission (e.g., preamble/Msg3/Msg A) times, i.e., total (or failed) UL transmission times for the legacy RACH procedure, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(17) Failure type (e.g., a failure in RA-SDT procedure, a failure in non-SDT procedure) , for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(18) Time when the UE triggers RA-SDT, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(19) Time when the UE triggers a non-SDT procedure, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(20) Number of preambles sent on an SSB, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(21) An indication to indicate RA-SDT is performed but not successful, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

In Embodiment 2, for the case that RA-SDT is performed and successful, at least one of following information for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT, which can be considered as information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, can be logged and reported by the UE:

(3) Information of the BWP where the RA-SDT is performed, e.g., frequency information of the BWP, BWP ID, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(4) Frequency information of RACH resources, e.g., msg1/msgA-FrequencyStart, msg1/msgA-SubcarrierSpacing, msg1/msgA-FDM, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(5) The beam index used to perform RA-SDT, e.g., SSB index, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(6) An indication indicating the criterion for performing RA-SDT is met/fulfilled, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(7) An indication to indicate if the RA-SDT is performed over NUL or SUL, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(8) The location information at the time when performing RA-SDT, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(9) Total (or failed) RA-SDT based UL transmission (e.g., Msg A or Msg3) times, i.e., total (or failed) UL transmission times for the RA-SDT procedure, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(10) Time when the UE triggers RA-SDT, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(11) Number of preambles sent on an SSB, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

(12) An indication to indicate RA-SDT is performed successfully, for initial data transmission phase and/or a subsequent data transmission for RA-SDT.

In some cases, scenarios described in Embodiment 1 and scenarios described in Embodiment 2 may happen at the same time. For example, in some cases, “the scenarios in which when CG resources for SDT are configured, CG-SDT is not triggered/initiated/performed, or CG-SDT is performed but failed” and “the scenarios in which RACH resources for SDT are configured, RA-SDT is not triggered//initiated/performed, or RA-SDT is performed but filed” may happen at the same time. In such cases, a UE may log and report the corresponding information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure as described in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

In some cases, scenarios described in Embodiment 1 and scenarios described in Embodiment 2 may happen at the same time. For example, in some cases, “the scenarios in which when CG resources for SDT are configured, CG-SDT is not triggered/initiated/performed, or CG-SDT is performed but filed” and “the scenarios in which RACH resources for SDT are configured, RA-SDT is performed and successful” may happen at the same time. In such cases, a UE may log and report the corresponding information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure as described in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

Embodiment 3

Embodiment 3 aims to solve the above-mentioned issue 3, i.e., when a SDT procedure (e.g., CG-SDT using CG resources or RA-SDT using RACH resources) is performed but switched to a non-SDT procedure during SDT transmission phase or during the ongoing session of the SDT procedure, what information should be logged/recorded/stored, to let a network node know the reason why the SDT procedure is switched to the non-SDT procedure, so that the network node can optimize SDT configuration. The issue 3 solved by Embodiment 3 may also occur in some scenarios described in Embodiment 1 (e.g., in which when CG resources for SDT are configured, CG-SDT is triggered/initiated/performed) or some scenarios described in Embodiment 2 (e.g., in which when RACH resources for SDT are configured, RA-SDT is triggered/initiated/performed) .

In Embodiment 3, during a SDT procedure, a UE switches from a SDT procedure to a non-SDT procedure in following cases:

(1) Case 1: a UE receive, from a network node, an indication to switch to a non-SDT procedure. The network node can send the indication via the RRCResume message.

(2) Case 2: an initial UL transmission (e.g., in msgA/Msg3/CG resources) fails up to configured number of times e.g., maximum UL transmission times for the SDT procedure.

In the case that CG-SDT is performed but CG-SDT is switched to a non-SDT procedure during this CG based SDT transmission phase, or in the case that RA-SDT is performed but RA-SDT is switched to a non-SDT procedure during this RA based SDT transmission phase, to make a network node know the reason why the SDT procedure (e.g., CG-SDT or RA-SDT) is switched to the non-SDT procedure, in order to optimize the SDT configuration (e.g., CG configuration information and/or RACH configuration information) , at least one of following information , which can be considered as information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure, can be logged and reported by the UE:

(1) An indication to indicate whether the configured maximum number of SDT based UL transmission times is reached, or whether the failed UL transmission (e.g., MsgA/Msg3/CG resources) reaches the configured maximum number of UL transmission times of the SDT procedure.

(2) The configured maximum number of SDT based UL transmission times, or the configured maximum number of UL transmission times of the SDT procedure.

(3) An indication to indicate whether an indication for switching from the SDT procedure to the non-SDT procedure is received from the network node (e.g., in the RRC Resume message) .

Since the issue 3 solved by Embodiment 3 may occur in some scenarios described in Embodiment 1 (e.g., in which when CG resources for SDT are configured, CG-SDT is not triggered/initiated/performed) or some scenarios described in Embodiment 2 (e.g., in which when RACH resources for SDT are configured, RA-SDT is triggered/initiated/performed) , a UE in Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2 may further log/record/store and report the information related to the SDT procedure and/or the non-SDT procedure as described in Embodiment 3 to the network.

The method (s) of the present disclosure can be implemented on a programmed processor. However, controllers, flowcharts, and modules may also be implemented on a general purpose or special purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit elements, an integrated circuit, a hardware electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device, or the like. In general, any device that has a finite state machine capable of implementing the flowcharts shown in the figures may be used to implement the processing functions of the present disclosure.

While this disclosure has been described with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations may be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added, or substituted in the other embodiments. Also, all of the elements of each figure are not necessary for operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, those having ordinary skills in the art would be enabled to make and use the teachings of the disclosure by simply employing the elements of the independent claims. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure as set forth herein are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In this document, the terms "includes, " "including, " or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "a, " "an, " or the like does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the element. Also, the term "another" is defined as at least a second or more. The term "having" and the like, as used herein, are defined as "including.

Claims

A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

a processor; and

a transceiver coupled to the processor,

wherein the processor is configured:

to store information related to at least one of: a small data transmission (SDT) procedure, or a non-SDT procedure; and

to transmit, via the transceiver to a network node, the information related to the at least one of: the SDT procedure, or the non-SDT procedure.
The UE of Claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to obtain one or more triggering conditions.
The UE of Claim 2, wherein the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure is stored in response to the one or more triggering conditions being fulfilled.
The UE of Claim 2, wherein the one or more triggering conditions are obtained via the transceiver from the network node.
The UE of Claim 2, wherein the one or more triggering conditions include at least one of:

configured grant (CG) configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

random access channel (RACH) configuration information for the SDT procedure is received by the UE;

a criterion for performing the SDT procedure using CG resources is not met;

a criterion for performing the SDT procedure using RACH resources is not met;

the SDT procedure is switched to a non-SDT procedure; or

a failure occurs during an ongoing session of the SDT procedure.
The UE of Claim 5, wherein, in response to the UE receiving the CG configuration information for the SDT procedure, the criterion for performing the SDT procedure using CG resources includes at least one of:

an available user data volume is smaller than or equal to a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

reference signal received power (RSRP) of a cell of the UE is greater than or equal to a first RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

RSRP of a beam of the UE is greater than or equal to a second RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources;

the CG resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure; or

a time alignment (TA) is valid for the SDT procedure.
The UE of Claim 5, wherein, in response to the UE receiving the RACH configuration information for the SDT procedure, the criterion for performing the SDT procedure using RACH resources includes at least one of:

an available user data volume is smaller than or equal to a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

reference signal received power (RSRP) of a cell of the UE is greater than or equal to a first RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure; or

the RACH resources are configured and valid for the SDT procedure.
The UE of Claim 1, wherein the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure includes at least one of:

an indication to indicate whether a user data volume is smaller than or equal to a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

an indication to indicate whether reference signal received power (RSRP) of a cell of the UE is greater than or equal to a first RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

an indication to indicate whether RSRP of a beam of the UE is greater than or equal to a second RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using configured grant (CG) resources;

an indication to indicate whether the RSRP of the beam of the UE is greater than or equal to a third RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using random access channel (RACH) resources;

an indication to indicate whether a time alignment (TA) is valid for the SDT procedure;

an indication to indicate whether CG resources are valid for the SDT procedure;

an indication to indicate whether RACH resources are valid for the SDT procedure;

a specific random access (RA) purpose for the SDT procedure using the RACH resources; or

an indication to indicate whether a configured maximum number of uplink (UL) transmission times of the SDT procedure is reached.
The UE of Claim 1 or Claim 8, wherein the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure includes at least one of:

a data volume threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

a first RSRP threshold for the UE to determine whether to perform the SDT procedure;

a second RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using CG resources;

a third RSRP threshold for the UE to select a beam to perform the SDT procedure using random access channel (RACH) resources;

a fourth RSRP threshold for selecting between the NUL carrier and SUL carrier for the SDT procedure;

a fifth RSRP threshold for a RA type selection;

an actual data volume before performing the SDT procedure;

the actual data volume upon performing the SDT procedure;

an actual RSRP of a cell before performing the SDT procedure;

the actual RSRP of the cell upon performing the SDT procedure;

RSRP of a beam before performing the SDT procedure;

the RSRP of the beam upon performing the SDT procedure;

a maximum UL transmission times configured for the SDT procedure;

an identifier (ID) of a cell in which the SDT procedure is performed;

an index of a beam used to perform the SDT procedure;

the index of the beam used to perform a non-SDT procedure;

frequency information of CG resources used for the SDT procedure;

frequency information of RACH resources used for the SDT procedure;

an indication to indicate whether a cell reselection procedure is triggered during an ongoing session of the SDT procedure;

an indication to indicate whether a SDT failure detection timer expires during the ongoing session of the SDT procedure; or

an indication to indicate whether a maximum retransmission times is reached in a radio link control (RLC) layer of the UE during the ongoing session of the SDT procedure.
The UE of Claim 1, wherein the processor is configured:

to transmit, via the transceiver to the network node, an indicator indicating that the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure is stored in the UE.
The UE of Claim 10, wherein the processor is configured:

to receive, via the transceiver from the network node, a request message for the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure.
The UE of Claim 11, wherein the request message includes an indicator for requiring the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure.
The UE of Claim 11, wherein the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure is transmitted after receiving the request message.
A network node, comprising:

a processor; and

a transceiver coupled to the processor,

wherein the processor is configured:

to receive, via the transceiver from a user equipment (UE) , an indicator indicating that information related to at least one of a small data transmission (SDT) procedure or a non-SDT procedure is stored in the UE;

to transmit, via the transceiver to the UE, a request message for the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure; and

to receive, via the transceiver, the information related to the at least one of the SDT procedure or the non-SDT procedure from the UE.
A method performed by a user equipment (UE) , the method comprising:

storing information related to at least one of: a small data transmission (SDT) procedure, or a non-SDT procedure; and

transmitting, to a network node, the information related to the at least one of: the SDT procedure, or the non-SDT procedure.